A doctor has warned of the dangers of skipping medication for HIV infection

HIV therapy helps to suppress the virus, and skipping the medication can cause it to actively reproduce and damage the immune system. This, in turn, leads to an increased risk of infections, such as fungal lesions of the skin, mouth and esophagus, herpes infections, and pneumonia. Roksana Portnova, a general practitioner and cardiologist at SberZdorovye medical company, told Izvestia more about this on December 1, World AIDS Day.

"Scratches, wounds, injection sites and other skin injuries can also become places of penetration and spread of various infections in the body, which can lead to a serious condition called sepsis - blood poisoning. Intermittent medication can cause the concentration of the drug in the blood to drop below acceptable levels, while the virus grows stronger. This will eventually lead to the risk of the virus becoming resistant to the drug, then the treatment will stop working," she warned.

The increase in the virus in the body can also affect the patient's general health, she said. He may have general fatigue, weight loss, skin rashes, diarrhea. As a result of HIV multiplication and increased viral load, there is also an increased likelihood of transmission to others.

"Also, interruption of therapy can significantly accelerate the progression of HIV infection to the stage of AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, which is fraught with severe complications. At the final stage of AIDS progression the patient may have an increase in body temperature up to 38 degrees and higher, weight loss up to exhaustion, repeated persistent viral, bacterial and fungal infections, poorly amenable to treatment, which at terminal stages become irreversible," Portnova emphasized.

The doctor noted that people diagnosed with AIDS are more susceptible to tuberculosis than healthy people. At the same time, the latter can also accelerate the progression of HIV infection.

"In no case it is impossible to interrupt the reception of therapy independently. Any changes in treatment should be discussed with the attending physician. Only he can assess the patient's condition and make a decision to adjust therapy, taking into account individual characteristics and potential risks," the therapist explained.

She reminded that HIV can be transmitted through biological fluids of an infected person - blood, for example, through syringes or blood transfusion, sexually, as well as through breast milk. The virus is also capable of being transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy or childbirth.

"HIV is not transmitted through kisses, handshakes, hugs, as well as through the domestic way, for example, when using common utensils or bath," Portnova added.

Earlier, on November 25, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that since 2016, the incidence of HIV infection in Russia has decreased by 40%, reaching a historic low. He stressed that today much attention is paid to the organization of prevention, diagnosis and therapy of this disease. According to him, the epidemic process of HIV infection is under stable control in Russia.